Goalie equipment was smaller then. The last time Fedorov scored 100 points was 95-96 when he was 10th in the league for scoring and the top 2 had 161 and 149 points and there were 12 100 point scorers (There have been about 12 100 point seasons for NHL players during Datsyuk's career. Datsyuk should have won a few Hart's but because he is the best forward defensively doesn't score as much as he would if he were a little less defensive. I am pretty sure Datsyuk was among the top 5 scorers in the league more often than Fedorov.It was a lot easier for us to win Cups then with no cap

You've got a fairly credible point with the goalie pads thing. However, Fedorov played just as defensively responsible as Datsyuk does, so your argument's logic holds true for him as well. Also, Fedorov played eight seasons with the Wings before winning a cup, it's not like he walked on to a Stanley cup contender and reaped the benefits (and the cups) that Mike Illitch paid for. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure Datsyuk joined a team full of Hall of Famers and reaped the benefits (and the cup) that Mike Illitch paid for did he not?

Again, I love the guy, he's wicked good, but he's not better than Fedorov.

Hmm, I've seen 2 NHL games. Det v Van in '93, so take your pick from Lidstrom, Fedorov, Yzerman, Coffey, Konstantinov and Bure. The one who stands out in my memory is Bure. Van lost 5-1, but he was soooo much quicker than anyone else on the ice it was unreal.

Then 2001 I saw Van v Pho, so the Sedins, Naslund, Bertuzzi, Roenick and Tchachuk.

Seen lots of ex and fringe NHLers in the British leagues, Jim Paek probly the most famous.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

I know this is a Wings fan site so it seems biased, but Lidstrom and Datsyuk are easily at or near the top of my list. I am so thankful that these guys are/were Wings. I'd hate to watch them from afar.

Pavel Datsyuk. When you talk about players worth the price of admission...this would be my pick. I grew up playing hockey and i think it takes someone who's played to truely understand how unreal this guy is. A casual fan might think he looks slick and makes some unusual plays but we see a guy who at 5'11" may be the strongest player on the puck in the game, who's skating/balance is almost unrivaled, who's larcenous defensive play should make Bob Gainey feel like Patrik Stefan, and who's stickhandling is the best the game has ever seen.

Lidstrom. A machine. If you made a robot to play defense, you program it by feeding it videos of Lidstrom on the Power Play. This guy, at 40 years old, was voted by his peers as the best Defensive Defenseman in the game, while taking about as many PIM's as the tenacious Kyle Wellwood. That about sums it up. I beat with my stick instead of my body...because im smarter than you (and the majority of the defenseman in NHL history).

Peter Forsberg was an absolute machine. There was a playoff series between us and the Avs (we lost the series) where Forsberg seemed to score at will and seemingly beat us all by himself. Kind of like Franzen against the Avs, except we were 3 times as good as that Avs team. When he had the puck, you just knew we were screwed.

ok, so as ive only seen a Kings V Ducks NHL game over here in London, some of these names may not be too familiar to the younger fans.
Hopefully the older guys will know some of these. These guys played in the UK or were on touring teams.
TOP TEN
Garry Unger
Doug Smail
Jiri Lala (snr)
Glenn Anderson
Robert Nordmark
Doug Lidster
Laurie Boschman
Theoren Fleury
Gerald Diduck
Sergei Mozyakin
Best british player is Tony Hand, drafted by the Oilers in 1986 and should have stayed at camp but got homesick.
Coach of the Oilers at the time, Glen Sather, said the only player with a better hockey brain at camp that year than
Hand was Gretzky. Hand only played 3 games for the Victoria Cougars in the WHL before heading back home but
had 4+4 !!

Besides the Wings, I've seen the Ducks, Kings, Pens, Canucks, and Oilers, all in recent years (so unfortunately I'm not going to be able to say Gretzky for either the Oilers or Kings). The only player I was really starstruck about seeing was Teemu Selanne - he's probably my favorite non-Wing player, so it's been great to be able to see him do his thing. The next person you would expect me to say is Crosby, but I saw the Pens while he had the concussion, so no dice there. I can't even say Khabibulin for the Oil - he didn't play that night. So that leaves us with:

Hmm, a tad pathetic, but that's what I've got. This is definitely NOT a team I'd want to assemble...they wouldn't be bad, but my god, what a bunch of turds and prima donnas (except for Selanne, Kopitar, and Quick...well, at least they don't seem that way). My apologies to the Oilers - somehow Hall and Nugent-Hopkins just didn't quite make the list.

You've got a fairly credible point with the goalie pads thing. However, Fedorov played just as defensively responsible as Datsyuk does, so your argument's logic holds true for him as well. Also, Fedorov played eight seasons with the Wings before winning a cup, it's not like he walked on to a Stanley cup contender and reaped the benefits (and the cups) that Mike Illitch paid for. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure Datsyuk joined a team full of Hall of Famers and reaped the benefits (and the cup) that Mike Illitch paid for did he not?

Again, I love the guy, he's wicked good, but he's not better than Fedorov.

I said goalie equipment, not just pads, even the helmets are so much bigger to protect the net, not the head

ok, so as ive only seen a Kings V Ducks NHL game over here in London, some of these names may not be too familiar to the younger fans.Hopefully the older guys will know some of these. These guys played in the UK or were on touring teams.TOP TENGarry UngerDoug SmailJiri Lala (snr)Glenn AndersonRobert NordmarkDoug LidsterLaurie BoschmanTheoren FleuryGerald DiduckSergei MozyakinBest british player is Tony Hand, drafted by the Oilers in 1986 and should have stayed at camp but got homesick.Coach of the Oilers at the time, Glen Sather, said the only player with a better hockey brain at camp that year thanHand was Gretzky. Hand only played 3 games for the Victoria Cougars in the WHL before heading back home buthad 4+4 !!

Tony Hand was a great player in his prime but given that he never played for the Fife Flyers I was never a massive fan, call it a childish rivalry. Mark Morrison (now coach at St Johns in AHL) was an great player in the UK, loved him.

Before the Jets left Winnipeg I was at a game where they beat Dallas 7-6 and Selanne had 4 goals and shot his glove out of the air after his 3rd goal. That is one of the single greatest performances i've ever seen by a player.

Stevie Y and Lids were insane back then too. Saw Yzerman tear the Jets apart with my dad a few times back then. Federov and Konstatinov were also amazing to watch. The Wings team from the mid 90's right before the cup wins were awesome to watch.

Haven't been lucky enough to see the new Jets team yet, but really looking forward to seeing Kane's speed and Wheeler do an end to ender. I would very much like to see Dats and Z play in the near future.